Eric Bold and Stratos Jets came to the rescue this week whilst I was trying to evacuate friends and families from Puerto Rico during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Eric was beyond helpful and always courteous. He was quick to find an aircraft within my budget and stayed in contact with me at every point during our transaction to update me on all matters concerning our trip. I would highly recommend Stratos Jets to anyone and I look forward to working with them on our next trip.
As always, your staff is a pleasure to work with, and are very good with their communication, etc. I (of course) wish we didn't have the snafu with your client cutting the trip short, only to change his mind - costing us an additional 3 hours of flight time (approx. $10,000) - since we cancelled a trip with another operator to accommodate his request to leave early. I think there should have been a consideration for a 2 hour cancellation fee or something there. We understand that this wasn't Stratos Jets' doing - but I believe your client should have been penalized in some way as he was informed we had another trip and he told us to cancel it to accommodate him. This was very disappointing (and financially detrimental) for us, especially as we had lowered the cost of the trip (in addition to removing all minimums) prior to booking. The only way it made sense for us to do that was to fly while sitting transient.
the assetWe place an emphasis on exceeding expectations, especially when it comes to the management of your aircraft. With unmatched industry expertise and a commitment to safety, you can rest assured your asset is in good hands. We work to simplify ownership by managing every aspect—from maintenance to marketing—while keeping your economic interests at the forefront of consideration.
Delta Private Jets, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, earlier this year launched Sky Access. You pay $8,500 and can fly as many empty legs as you want at no additional cost. You also get 20% off select fares on Delta’s airline flights. There is a $500 fee if you cancel or no show. Over this weekend 66 empty legs were listed, although some such as Ft. Lauderdale to Miami, all of 30 miles, wouldn’t even give you time to pop open a beer. More interesting was Washington D.C. to Chicago and New York to Sarasota. There were also Nantucket to New York and Las Vegas to San Francisco, however, they were both on Friday, so the wrong direction for most people, and that’s the point, and perhaps a good segue to discussing the some of the downsides.
And with today’s modern aircraft, you don’t have to leave the office behind. With internet, in-flight satellite phone, and fax you’ll feel like you’ve never left the ground! You can use your cell phone where there’s a signal. And Wifi is now standard on most flights. Of course, always check with your flight planner to make sure your aircraft will suit your needs.
On a Charter Flight, passengers aren’t limited to on of 2 or 3 entrees being served. They can literally design their own meal or order from a restaurant of their choice to be enjoyed while traveling in supreme comfort. There is also a wide variety of entertainment options on a charter flight. Many aircraft used for charter flights have free WiFi, high end sound or entertainment systems with iPhone/Android hook-ups and even satellite TV.
The most economical option is chartering, which doesn't require any cash upfront (other than a deposit) through companies like Tradewind, Sentient, and Solairus, (which we took home from North Carolina). Of course, there are the old standbys like NetJets and Marquis, who sell fractional ownership (like 1/16th) of a single jet for upwards of $100K. One step down from that, pricewise, is the jet card, where you buy a set amount of hours from a company like Nicholas or Private Jet Services, and can use those hours for different planes. Then there are membership models like WheelsUp, where you pay $17,500 as an initiation fee to fly in their fleet, and then a $8,500 annual dues fee starting the second year. It's like a country club—only you're guaranteed access to a KingAir350i or Citation Excel / XLS instead of a golf course.
Because jet charter is not priced on a per person or ticket basis, it is not likely that it would be more cost effective for a group of 10-15 individuals to charter a jet compared with flying via scheduled airline service in coach or first class. Even if the total cost for a charter trip is split among 10 people, the cost each person would cover would still be significant.
Of course, the cheapest way to fly privately is to have a friend who invites you on their flight. Then there are the semi-private charters like JetSmarter, JetSuiteX and JetClass where you can buy a seat on a scheduled private jet and corporate shuttle flight sharing it with strangers, much like if you were on a commercial airline. You can buy tickets on these flights for under $200 and you do avoid those crowded main airport terminals. However, if you want to have the real deal experience, chartering your own private jet, you are looking at something between $5,000 and up to $20,000 per hour depending on the size of aircraft and routing.
As a part 135 operator, I have been doing business with Stratos Jets since it was founded by Joel Thomas in 2006. Since the first trip I could tell they were a different type of Jet brokerage. Joel and his team of aviation advisors have always conducted themselves with the highest of standards and partnered with platinum operators like us to give their customers a luxurious private jet experience. Thank you for a decade of partnership and excellence.Thank you for your friendship!Rich Brennan VP of Sales

Delta Private Jets, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, earlier this year launched Sky Access. You pay $8,500 and can fly as many empty legs as you want at no additional cost. You also get 20% off select fares on Delta’s airline flights. There is a $500 fee if you cancel or no show. Over this weekend 66 empty legs were listed, although some such as Ft. Lauderdale to Miami, all of 30 miles, wouldn’t even give you time to pop open a beer. More interesting was Washington D.C. to Chicago and New York to Sarasota. There were also Nantucket to New York and Las Vegas to San Francisco, however, they were both on Friday, so the wrong direction for most people, and that’s the point, and perhaps a good segue to discussing the some of the downsides.

Joel and Stratos are amazing! He made sure our flight was tailored perfectly and was very responsive and always available for contact. They catered specifically to our needs with late notice. The pilots were fantastic and patient, especially considering we had three animals and arrived 10 minutes before take-off. They provided the smoothest flight in the Hawker we’ve ever taken. Stratos offered transportation to and from; the boarding process was welcoming and convenient. We will only fly privately with Stratos Jets through Joel and his team. Thank you guys for everything!

My boss recently travelled to Europe for the entire month of August. During that time his jet had mechanical issues and could no longer fly where he wanted. He had about 12 flights left in his trip around Europe and Stratos Jet Charters, especially Heather Latch, saved our lives. They were able to accommodate 90% of the trips he wanted at the time he wanted. She really was a life saver for myself and my boss. I will definitely use Stratos Jets again and work with Heather any day of the week! They are magnificent!!
We had quite a number of issues booking this trip, which resulted in add'l work and follow up for me. As broker these issues should have been handled / caught prior to making a proposal. I believe I had to sign 4 different revised quote sheets for this trip! Also the final signed sheet stated we would land in LFMD on the return leg. Hence we booked transportation for pick up at LFMD. However flight landed in LFMN. This caused add'l stress and expense for no reason. I have only now seen that the last itinerary link showed an arrival at LFMN - but I never opened this one since all previous ones, including the contract reconfirmation showed LFMD. As for the aircraft itself: it was one of the oldest ones I have ever flown. The door / separation to the toilet / luggage area was broken (not the lock but the entire frame!) and the toilet was not accessible due to a lot of "stuff" (amenities, water bottles, etc.) being thrown in / stored in the area. Overall cleanliness was not superb either. Finally, the catering we requested was not available / not complete. Breakfast (eggwhite and sausage!!) was cold and wet and the fruitplatter had molded grapes; no ice bucket, nor champagne glasses were present. On the return leg, fruitplatter was nice but again no ice bucket nor champagne glasses were present. As a matter of fact, the soft drink container was not even replenished w new ice!! So overall - yes, we flew from A to B but the service experience was disappointing.
I have worked with Joel and Stratos Jets for several years and it has always been a pleasure. Most recently they booked a flight from St Petersburg, FL to Sanford, FL to Niagara Falls, NY with us on our Citation CJ1. The experience, as always was flawless and realtime feedback and communication meant the ASAP flight went without a hitch. Thank you Joel and team, I look forward to many more years of business with you.
A single-entity charter is one in which an individual or company charters a plane and bears the entire cost of the flight, so that the passengers do not pay their own airfare. There is no minimum passenger requirement, since the cost is per flight, not per person. Single-entity charters are typically used for business purposes -- for example, travel to meetings and conferences, incentive travel or VIP leisure travel.
For those unfamiliar with air charter costs, prices can initially be a bit intimidating. One reason for the higher costs associated with flying privately is of course the fact that some of the costs incurred are costs that are typically shared by all passengers on commercial flights, whereas, in the case of chartering a private aircraft, you are chartering the entire aircraft and crew for your exclusive use.
We were on a commercial flight from Detroit to Salt Lake City when part way into our flight we got notification from Delta app that our delay was going to cause us to miss our connection. We were on a long weekend for MLK to go skiing in Lake Tahoe. We were going to be rescheduled the following day, thus missing half of our vacation. I had email only, and emailed Garett asking if they had an operator in SLC who could get us to Tahoe that evening. Within 20 minutes he came back with two quotes. By the time we landed he had set up the flight, emailed me the number to the shuttle to get from Delta terminal to the private terminal, and did it all for a great price. To throw things off even more, we were set to fly to Tahoe, but Delta somehow got our bags on the flight to Reno that they said we couldn't make. So at the last minute we changed from Tahoe to Reno for a destination. By the time we took the shuttle to the FBO our flight plan was set and we took off within 10 minutes. It could not have been more seamless. It literally saved our vacation. Time is the most precious resource we have and time with family is even more precious. Our daughter is a senior and this is one of the last trips we'll have with her; it meant a lot, and Stratos savings our vacation, allowing us to create memories, means all that much more. Thank you!! Dave